Kevin Costner's estranged wife Christine heads to lawyer's office
EXCLUSIVE: Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine is seen heading to her lawyer’s office in Santa Barbara as the actor claims he needs her out of their $145m mansion ASAP so he can begin editing his new film
- DailyMail.com spotted Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner walking to a lawyer’s office in Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday
- The couple are currently embattled in a nasty divorce that has her actor husband fighting to evict her from his $145million mansion
- In a filing obtained by DailyMail.com, Costner claims he needs her out ASAP for when he returns from filming his latest movie on June 25
Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner was seen heading to a lawyer’s office in Santa Barbara, California.
DailyMail.com saw the designer, 49, dressed in a green patterned top, slacks and sandals walking to the office on Tuesday as she’s currently embattled in a nasty divorce that has her actor husband fighting to evict her from his $145million mansion.
Christine has refused to leave, and in a filing obtained by DailyMail.com, Costner claims he needs her out ASAP for when he returns from filming his latest movie this weekend.
He is currently directing Western film Horizon: An American Saga, starring Sienna Miller and Sam Worthington, which Costner stars in, produced, wrote and funded.
DailyMail.com spotted Kevin Costner’s estranged wife Christine Baumgartner walking to a lawyer’s office in Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday
DailyMail.com saw the designer, 49, dressed in a green patterned top, slacks and sandals walking to the office on Tuesday
The next hearing will be on July 5 and Costner says he is ‘really hope to have some determination regarding Christine vacating my separate property home’ during that hearing
Christine has refused to leave, and in a filing obtained by DailyMail.com, Costner claims he needs her out ASAP for when he returns from filming his latest movie this weekend
Costner claimed in his filing, ‘I will finish shooting the film in Utah on June 24, 2023 and will be home either on June 25 or June 26 to begin the editing process.
‘As specified in my Declaration in support of my RFO, there is a second structure at the Beach Club Road properties which is to be used for editing. The editing team and my office will get set up starting June 26 and need to be there to begin our editing work.’
The next hearing will be on July 5 and Costner says he is ‘really hope to have some determination regarding Christine vacating my separate property home’ during that hearing.
‘As have stated in previous pleadings, this was very important deal point in our Prenuptial Agreement. Christine knows this,’ he writes in the filing.
‘I have been very patient and have given Christine ample time, since the filing of her Petition in this matter on May 1, 2023, to honor our agreement and move out of my separate property residence. I simply cannot delay this issue any longer, especially because need to come back to the Beach Club Road properties to start the editing of my film as we work to adhere to contractual deadlines.’
The American Western is Costner’s passion project – and he is fronting the bill.
He told Deadline last month, ‘I’ve mortgaged 10 acres on the water in Santa Barbara where I was going to build my last house. But I did it without a thought. It has thrown my accountant into a f**king conniption fit. But it’s my life, and I believe in the idea and the story.’
‘I commissioned this story in 1988. Single movie, two-hander. A conventional Western with a beginning, middle, and end. I couldn’t get anybody to make it,’ he told Deadline.
‘Eight years later, I started thinking about the story, started writing with a partner, and it ended up being four screenplays. So I reverse-engineered everything from 1988. I thought it was really good. But I still couldn’t get anybody to make it. … I don’t know why, but I have not let go of this one. I’ve pushed it into the middle of the table three times in my career and didn’t blink. This is my fourth.’
The Oscar-winning actor said that under the terms of their prenuptial agreement, Christine had a 30-day period to move out of the house he owns following her May 1 divorce filing
Property inspectors showed up at the house this week, possibly connected to the actor’s recent decision to mortgage a piece of his property to fund his upcoming film franchise Horizon
In court papers, Costner, who is worth $250 million, asserted that he has made ‘multiple offers’ to get his wife to move out of the former marital home – but has failed to reach agreement with Christine leaving him effectively ‘homeless.’
‘I was married once before and, upon separation, found myself without home base and unable to live in my own home,’ Costner declared.
‘I never wanted this to happen again.’
Under the terms of the prenup, signed in 2004, she was to leave his properties if they split and relocate, using a $1.2 million fund to find a new house.
But the well-being of Christine’s children far outweighs anything on a piece of paper, said the friend.
‘Kevin should be thinking of the kids instead of himself. She also said Kevin has plenty of other houses he can choose from to make his primary home.’
Costner alleges that Christine is in breach of their agreement – saying that he now wishes to move back into the huge house which they shared. She was spotted at the property this week.
Both have asked for joint physical and legal custody of children Cayden, 15, Hayes, 14, and Grace, 12.
The lawyers said: ‘ What is happening now is exactly what he and Christine contracted to avoid in the event their marriage failed.
‘Christine has accepted the benefits of the PMA (pre marital agreement ) over the years, but now refuses to accept this one burden.’
Both sides seem to be preparing for a ‘War of the Roses’ style legal battle over their huge $145 million house in Carpinteria, California. It is owned solely by Costner and he bought it in 1988, long before their 2004 wedding.
Costner, who has been filming in Utah for the past few months, is complaining that he needs a home as he will be off location from early June.
Extraordinarily, he says that he was made homeless during his last divorce. The house next door, also owned by him, is used he says as a place to edit films.
He says that he funded Christine’s two ‘failed’ businesses both before and during the marriage and says that she was happy to benefit from the premarital agreement for years, but is now seeking to ditch it.
Costner alleges that following their separation she ‘charged $95,000’ to his credit card ‘without prior notice to me.’ That money was spent on lawyers and on a forensic accountant.
Meanwhile Costner claims she wants the world to see the financial details of the pre-nuptial agreement which they signed – but insists that this would put him under risk of ‘irreparable harm’ from fraudsters or burglars, and be likely to attract unwanted and embarrassing global media attention.
Christine filed for divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences on May 1.
She gave the date of separation as April 11. In his response Costner, 68, marks the date of separation as ‘TBD’ or ‘to be determined.’
The ‘disso queen’ Laura Wasser is acting for Costner. In the initial response to the divorce filing she asked for the payment of spousal support ‘pursuant to the terms of the parties premarital agreement.’
On June 8, Christine’s side filed a restraining order against Costner which forbids him from taking the children out of the state and transferring or selling any property.
On June 9, Costner’s side filed a request for an order to kick Christine out of the house, a filing known as a ‘preliminary injunction prohibiting petitioner from occupancy.’
It also requests that the premarital agreement is sealed – which would ensure it is kept private – and asks that a court determine the validity of the premarital agreement separately to considering other matters in the divorce, in order to speed things up.
Costner’s estranged wife Christine has accused the actor of trying to make their three children ‘homeless’ by ‘kicking them out of their house’, court documents reveal
Kevin Costner’s divorce from estranged wife Christine Baumgartner (seen together in 2022) just got explosive, with his lawyer claiming in court documents that she has left him ‘homeless’
Kevin alleges: ‘Thus, when Christine and began discussing marriage in 2003, made it clear to her that would not marry again without clarity that my separate property residences would remain mine to live in no matter what happened in our marriage’
His lawyers complain that Christine’s actions in staying at the house are essentially holding him to ransom while they negotiate.
They say: ‘Christine has taken the position that she will not move out of Kevin’s separate property residence unless and until Kevin agrees to various financial demands.
‘Christine’s agreement to move out was and is unconditional. Indeed, independent of the PMA [pre-marital agreement] she has no right to occupy Kevin’s separate property residence.
‘Nevertheless, Kevin has offered to assist her financially in moving out, he has already made a contribution to her attorney’s and accountant’s fees, he has already paid her the $1,000,000 due her under the terms of the PMA upon the filing of the Petition as part of the bargained for waiver of spousal support (in addition to a total of $200,000 he paid to her in the early years of the marriage pursuant to the PMA), he has already made a comprehensive temporary child support and fee proposal, he has agreed to and has maintained the financial status quo since the Petition was filed, continuing to pay all of the parties’ children’s expenses, and he is negotiating a summer visitation schedule for the parties’ three teenage children.
‘Kevin has acted in good faith and had done everything in his power to make the transition as seamless as possible. But Christine continues to refuse to vacate his separate property residence, as she agreed she would do in 2004 as a condition of marriage.’
In his declaration filed as part of the injunction Costner himself explains: ‘Because of the nature of my work, I am frequently out of town; it is therefore particularly important to me that when am I home, I have a home to go to.
‘Thus, when Christine and I began discussing marriage in 2003, I made it clear to her that I would not marry again without clarity that my separate property residences would remain mine to live in no matter what happened in our marriage.
‘Christine acknowledged to me at the time that she understood the importance of this to me and she agreed to this provision.’
The statement clarifies the position on Yellowstone. Costner had been in negotiations to return to film some episodes for the final series – but is no longer planning to do so
Dunbar Ranch is named after Costner’s character in Dancing With Wolves, which earned him two Oscars. The $80 million estate has its own baseball field, caretakers on the site 24/7, private fishing lakes and a golf putting range
He adds: ‘Our PMA provides, among other terms, that all of the assets we each owned prior to our marriage would remain our respective separate property. One such separate property asset of mine is my Separate Property Residence that Christine and I have used as our family home with our three children.
‘I purchased this property in 1988, long before my marriage to Christine. Adjacent to the Residence is separate residence that I use exclusively for business purposes (film editing) and which I will be working at this year in connection with a new film project recently completed filming that I am producing.
‘I also owned that separate adjacent residence at the time Christine and I married. Our PMA clearly provides in Paragraph 9.A. that (a) I shall have immediate and exclusive use of all of my separate real property and (b) that within 30 days of filing of Petition for dissolution of our marriage, Christine shall vacate any family residential property owned solely by me. This 30-day deadline expired on May 31, 2023.’
He goes on to say that he has discussed the agreement with his estranged wife and reminded her that she has to leave – both personally and via his lawyer Laura Wasser.
His statement sets out some of the details of their prenup, which saw Christine get $100,000 on their wedding day and a further $100,000 on their first wedding anniversary.
She was also given $1 million after filing for divorce, as stipulated in the pre-nup, in order to help her to find a home.
Under the terms of the pre-nup Costner has also agreed to hand over a further $200,000 as a ‘cash deposit’ for a new home, and he agrees to pay her mortgage and insurance costs for her first year in a new place.
His statement continues: ‘Since April 2023, Christine has withdrawn from my bank account and charged on my credit card a total of $95,000, payable to her divorce attorneys and forensic accountant. This was done without any prior notice to me.
‘I have continued to maintain the status quo and have continued to pay all of our children’s expenses. I have also made multiple offers of settlement which, unfortunately, have not been accepted.’
Source: Read Full Article